Write your first Skill

Authoring a Skill takes four local commands: cmdop skill create scaffolds the project, you edit its SKILL.md, cmdop skill check --strict validates it, and cmdop skill pack produces a shareable artifact with a sha256: identity. The whole loop is offline — no account, no network, and Cmdop never imports or runs your entrypoint while checking it.

Use this local workflow to make an instruction-only Skill. You need a current Cmdop CLI on your PATH and a writable working directory. No account, network connection, or running agent is required.

1. Create the project

cmdop skill create release-check \
  --description "Review release readiness"

The default kind is prompt, which creates an instructions-only project. Its root SKILL.md holds the Skill’s name, description, version, and instructions.

Use --kind python or --kind node when the Skill needs deterministic code rather than instructions. The command never overwrites an existing directory.

2. Write the instructions

Open ./release-check/SKILL.md and edit it until the description says when to use the Skill and the body gives its reader a clear task. The description is what an agent matches against, so write it as a trigger, not as a summary.

3. Check it strictly

cmdop skill check ./release-check --strict

Checking validates instructions, the manifest, command schemas, permissions, paths, size limits, and suspected secrets. It never imports or runs your entrypoint, and never fetches anything remote. --strict treats warnings as blocking.

For automation, add --json: an invalid report is still printed as JSON, and the command exits with status 1.

4. Create a handoff artifact

cmdop skill pack ./release-check

The artifact lands at ./release-check/dist/release-check-<version>.zip unless you pass --output. Existing artifacts are not overwritten.

pack also prints a sha256: digest. That digest is the artifact’s identity — it is computed from the Skill’s canonical metadata and file contents, so it does not change with the output path, timestamps, or ZIP packaging details. Record it when you hand the artifact to someone else.

What this does not do

This authoring flow is offline. It does not publish a Skill, install it, execute its code, or install dependencies. Publishing is a separate stage — see Prepare a Skill for handoff.

See Skill project format for the boundary and Marketplace and installed state for discovery versus installation.

Common questions

How do I create a Cmdop Skill?

Run cmdop skill create <name>, edit the generated SKILL.md, validate with cmdop skill check --strict, then package it with cmdop skill pack.

Does checking a Skill run its code?

No. cmdop skill check validates metadata, instructions, schemas, paths, size limits, permissions, and suspected secrets. It does not import or execute the entrypoint and does not fetch remote resources.

Does packing publish the Skill?

No. cmdop skill pack creates a local artifact and digest. Publishing is a separate console workflow.